Update: recipe is now my blog. Check it out here! 🙂
Today I’m sharing this awesome no-cook summer dip over at Today’s Housewife. Sun-dried tomatoes, roasted red peppers, feta cheese… what’s not to love? Happy Thursday!
Month: July 2012
Book Review: My Stubborn Heart
Another day, another installment of Sarah’s semi-embarrassing reading habits. Sigh. At least I’m honest about it. 🙂 Like I mentioned before, I recently signed up to review books for Bethany House Publishers, a well-respected publisher of Christian fiction and other Christian titles, through their blogger review program. The most recent title I received was Becky Wade’s My Stubborn Heart.
Here is the description of the book from the publisher:
Kate Donovan, burned out and in need of an adventure, is only too happy to help her grandmother restore her old childhood home. But when she encounters the man hired to renovate the house–a former hockey star who’s wounded and hiding from everything and everyone–Kate discovers bringing him back to life might be the best and most daring job of all.
And what did I think about this book? Well, in five points… here you have it.
- This is a book I can hardly find fault with! I just want to live in its pages and experience Kate and Matt’s love story for myself [even though my own is pretty great too :)]. Matt is the former hockey star turned historic home renovator referenced above, by the way. As I kept reading, I just didn’t want this story to end! Sequel, sequel, sequel. 🙂
- That being said… the major fault with this book was that I didn’t necessarily agree with how the author dealt with faith and Christianity. Yes, Kate prayed and went to church but I felt like overall the faith part of the book took a backseat to the romance, which is fine, but it’s just something to be aware of. One other theologically questionable part was that Kate practiced yoga frequently. I know that’s an iffy subject in some Christian circles, but my personal convictions lead me to wary about yoga even as a form of exercise due to its origins. If you are a Christian, this topic is between you and God and I urge you to research this subject and make an informed decision.
- I loved learning about how Kate’s character grew as a result of her blossoming friendship and romance with Matt, as well as her grandmother and her grandmother’s friends. Even though the book treats faith on a surface level, it was pretty obvious that Kate was growing and was letting God shape her path in life, even through the hard times. Definitely an encouragement to me!
- I won’t give away any spoilers, but this book and the outcome is NOT as predictable as 95% of the Christian fiction out there. And I absolutely love that!
- Lastly, I love Becky Wade’s well written yet relaxed, casual writing style. Her style fits so well with the quirky, spunky characters of her story… this is the perfect summer Christian chicklit/beach read. I don’t usually reread Christian fiction because some of it’s pretty lame, but this book is one I’m definitely keeping on my bookshelf. I hope you’ll check it out too!
What are you reading lately?
Thanks to Bethany House for the chance to read this great book for free!
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SRC: Minty Asian Slaw
It’s a Secret Recipe Club kinda Monday! The best kind, in my opinion. 🙂 If you’ve missed past SRC posts, the premise is this: you’re assigned a different member’s blog every month. You visit their blog, choose any recipe you want, then make it and share it on your blog. Everyone else posts about their secret blog the same day. It’s fabulously fun to try out new blogs. If you have a blog, definitely check it out and consider joining! I highly recommend it.
This month my assigned blog was Sustainable Cooking for One, which is the product of Stephanie’s passion for local, sustainable eating. Stephanie has a ton of original and adapted recipes on her site, and has even published a cookbook! How cool.
I was looking for a side dish to make for our 4th of July BBQ, so when I saw Stephanie’s twist on cole slaw, I was so excited. This isn’t just your average cole slaw… it’s Minty Asian Slaw!
Minty Asian Slaw is a refreshing twist on a classic summertime dish. Unlike most cole slaw recipes, Stephanie’s encourages the use of lots of fresh veggies and fruit [not just cabbage!], vinegar, and oil… instead of globby mayo and limp cabbage. What a great idea, me thinks! For the most part, I stuck with the recipe but I did make a few changes. The original recipe called for cabbage, carrots, and cucumber along with the minty vinegar and oil dressing. Since Ben isn’t a huge cucumber fan, I decided to take a cue from Stephanie’s other slaw recipe and use an apple for crunch instead! I also added more mint than the recipe called for… what a great decision! Both of them. 🙂 And let me just say for the record that a bite of minty apple, no matter how weird it may sound, is pretty amazing.
This crisp Minty Asian Slaw is fresh, exotic, and perfect for summer, and that abundance of mint growing in your garden [or is that just me?], so I hope you enjoy as much as we did!
Minty Asian Slaw
adapted from Susatainable Cooking for One mostly here and but also here
Ingredients:
- 1 medium cabbage, sliced thin
- 1 tablespoon salt
- 1 carrot, grated
- 1 apple, cut into matchsticks [I used Granny Smith]
- 2 stalks celery, finely diced
- ~2-3 tablespoons fresh mint, chopped [I didn’t measure]
- lemon juice
- 3 tablespoons rice vinegar
- 1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
- up to 1/2 tablespoon sugar, if desired
Directions:
Place cabbage in a large collandar and pour salt over. Use your hands to massage salt into cabbage, then let sit for about 45 minutes [Mark Bittman suggests 1-2 hours but I didn’t have that kind of time, so I helped the process by massaging it]. Then rinse and drain cabbage thoroughly–about six times–to remove the salt. Dry cabbage with kitchen towels or a salad spinner.
Meanwhile, combine carrot, apple, celery, and mint in a large bowl. Toss with lemon juice–about 1 tablespoon. In a small bowl, whisk together vinegar and oil. Add cabbage and dressing mixture alternately so everything combines well. Taste and add sugar as desired.
Serve immediately.
Be sure to check out other great SRC recipes posted today!
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Menu Plan
Week of July 9
Monday: stuffed sweet potatoes
Tuesday: Kheema [Indian Ground Beef with Peas] – didn’t get to that last week… or the week before. whoops!
Wednesday: homemade pizza
Thursday: chili lime shrimp
Friday: leftovers
Saturday: out to eat
Sunday: breakfast for dinner
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Grandma’s Blueberry Muffins
Hey! Hope you had a happy Independence Day! Ben and I didn’t do anything super exciting… just had a little cookout [with awesome coleslaw and some Greek burgers he made], played Mario Kart on the Wii [I’m getting pretty good!], and watched a few fireworks on our balcony from the neighbors and the town’s celebration. We decided we didn’t want to deal with the traffic. 🙂 But we always enjoy the 4th of July because it was on that day that we got engaged four years ago, when I was staffing a summer project with Cru in Virginia Beach. Ben and a friend drove out to surprise me… so fun. 🙂 But anyways, back to the week.
I think these muffins might help your week out, don’t you?
My Grandma’s Blueberry Muffins are the absolute bestest blueberry muffins you ever did taste! So don’t you dare change a thing about them. 🙂 I certainly wouldn’t dream about it, even though the amount of butter and sugar in these little guys is really enough to warrant the name “cupcake” instead of “muffin.” Like, seriously. But they are worth it! I promise.
Even more so than the sweet muffin or the naturally sweet, juicy, fresh-picked blueberries, the crumb topping is what I absolutely adore about these blueberry muffins. Could that get any better? I think not. These muffins might look like your average bakery blueberry muffins, but they are absolutely not. And I’m not saying that just ’cause they’re from Grandma. Not at all. These muffins are sweet and a wee bit over the top, but they are still super light and fluffy to let the berry shine… unlike heavy bakery muffins. I don’t even bother trying other recipes anymore because I’m never satisfied. My Grandma simply knew what she was doing with these muff muffs! 🙂
Once you try them, I’m sure you’ll agree! Enjoy!
Directions: Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Grease or line muffin tins with paper liners, then set aside. Put flour, sugar, and baking powder in a large bowl. Mix well. Cut in butter until crumb like. Reserve 1 cup crumb mixture. Add eggs, milk, and vanilla to crumb mixture in large bowl. Beat until smooth, then gently fold in blueberries. Fill prepared muffin tins about 3/4 of the way full. Place reserved crumb mixture into a small bowl, then dribble in melted butter. Toss with a fork to make crumbs. Sprinkle on top of each muffin cup. Bake for 20 minutes or until crumb topping is golden brown. Store covered for up to one week, or can be frozen up to six months.Grandma's Blueberry Muffins
from my Grandma
Ingredients:
The Pajama Chef 